Pictures say it all.... (EA rant)

[Qbah]

I don't have the CD Key thing either (on the right, under right click or in properties). But when I ran DS2 the first time, the serial was pre-populated in the field. Strange you don't get that...

EDIT: Seems I didn't play the game since my last OS reinstall, so it asked me to activate again. Yep, the serial was pre-populated:

 

[Dankk]

I don't have the CD Key thing either (on the right, under right click or in properties). But when I ran DS2 the first time, the serial was pre-populated in the field. Strange you don't get that...

Right. This is what's supposed to happen. People who are saying "Right-click on the game and view the CD key" are mistaken. There are very few games on Steam that actually require you to manually insert the activation key; With most titles, the key is automatically inserted during first-time run. Such is the case with Dead Space 2. The fact that he started the game and it asked him for CD key without Steam providing him one in the first place shows that Steam ran out of keys.

 

[CuriousMike]

For F1 2011 ( which is a GFWL title ), Steam shows me the CD key everytime I boot the game. I have to Shift-Tab twice to get it to go away since it ignores me telling it I've already inserted the key.

 

[Lonyo]

Steam/Valve fucks up.

People blame EA.

GJ.

 

[shortylickens]

Steam/Valve fucks up.

People blame EA.

GJ.

To be fair, we dont have this issue with non-EA games on Steam. And if you look closely, you will see the Activation bullshit is directly from EA. Steam games on their own, without extra crap run just fine.
Wings Of Prey has an additional online/DRM management app called Yuplay running in the background, and it too causes tons of problems, none of which are part of Steam.

 

[Phynaz]

For F1 2011 ( which is a GFWL title ), Steam shows me the CD key everytime I boot the game. I have to Shift-Tab twice to get it to go away since it ignores me telling it I've already inserted the key.

There's a checkbox on the popup to not show it anymore

 

[Barfo]

wtf? I also got DS2 in the last weekend deal, better install it and see if I can play.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Steam/Valve fucks up.

People blame EA.

GJ.

I have to agree with you. It amazes me over and over again how far people will go to defend Steam on these forums.

You may not approve of the EA DRM, but Steam had to know a key was required to play the game. When they were out of keys, they should have stopped selling the game. Simple.

 

[CuriousMike]

There's a checkbox on the popup to not show it anymore

That I've checked and it continues to ignore.

 

[Maximilian]

same error happened to me actually. After spending half a day with EA's less than helpful customer support I decided to stop wasting my time. So you know what I did? I downloaded a copy of the game off some torrent site and played it without any issues on the first try.

fuck DRM. Seriously.

Cant blame ya for that :thumbsup:

To be fair, we dont have this issue with non-EA games on Steam. And if you look closely, you will see the Activation bullshit is directly from EA. Steam games on their own, without extra crap run just fine.
Wings Of Prey has an additional online/DRM management app called Yuplay running in the background, and it too causes tons of problems, none of which are part of Steam.

Indeed, steam offers a fair effective trouble free DRM system, its a shame companies like EA are still living in the past with their 3rd party DRM.

I have to agree with you. It amazes me over and over again how far people will go to defend Steam on these forums.

You may not approve of the EA DRM, but Steam had to know a key was required to play the game. When they were out of keys, they should have stopped selling the game. Simple.

You either arent a PC gamer or you havent been one for very long. Steam is one of the best things to happen to PC gaming for a long time, if publishers like EA and ubishit would do the decent thing for their customers and use steams DRM without tacking on extra rubbish then there wouldnt be any problems. Steam is easy, steam has the best type of DRM, it keeps games updated, prices on sales are excellent, sales are frequent... I could go on.

So they run out of keys and stop selling the game, meaning myself and others dont get to take part in this awesome deal because "there isnt enough left". This isnt brick & mortar we're dealing with its digital distribution, "we're out of stock" shouldnt ever be anything i see on steam. How about EA dosent tack on pointless crap DRM with their games? Thats a much better solution than stop selling altogether.

 

[Rifter]

way to not read the OP's response to this question ALREADY BEING ASKED and answered.

 

[Arglebargle]

This should be close to an automated process. It's not like they have to fire up the printing presses to turn out those cd-keys.

Getting good sales on your product? Make more available! This is not rocket surgery....

 

[Lonyo]

To be fair, we dont have this issue with non-EA games on Steam. And if you look closely, you will see the Activation bullshit is directly from EA. Steam games on their own, without extra crap run just fine.
Wings Of Prey has an additional online/DRM management app called Yuplay running in the background, and it too causes tons of problems, none of which are part of Steam.

The CD key issue has already happened in the past with non-EA games.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

This should be close to an automated process. It's not like they have to fire up the printing presses to turn out those cd-keys.

Getting good sales on your product? Make more available! This is not rocket surgery....

This is how it works.

Studio Makes game.
Studio sends game to publisher.
Publisher publishes game.
Publisher produces boxed copies of game to retail store or sells licenses in bulk to digital distributor.
Retail store sells games or digital distributor sells licenses + distributes the games.
Retail store runs out of copies. They order more from distributor.
Digital distributor runs out of keys. They order more from distributor.

Even if it's completely digital I would imagine both sides would negotiate on terms of a sale. If you're buying in bulk, you wouldn't necesarily just purchase it for the amount listed. You'd negotiate for a better price. Or you might order additional items, which leads to deeper discounts, which nets you more profit.

Unless you're a communist. In which case we can go with your scenario.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Cant blame ya for that :thumbsup:



Indeed, steam offers a fair effective trouble free DRM system, its a shame companies like EA are still living in the past with their 3rd party DRM.




You either arent a PC gamer or you havent been one for very long. Steam is one of the best things to happen to PC gaming for a long time, if publishers like EA and ubishit would do the decent thing for their customers and use steams DRM without tacking on extra rubbish then there wouldnt be any problems. Steam is easy, steam has the best type of DRM, it keeps games updated, prices on sales are excellent, sales are frequent... I could go on.

So they run out of keys and stop selling the game, meaning myself and others dont get to take part in this awesome deal because "there isnt enough left". This isnt brick & mortar we're dealing with its digital distribution, "we're out of stock" shouldnt ever be anything i see on steam. How about EA dosent tack on pointless crap DRM with their games? Thats a much better solution than stop selling altogether.

I have been a PC gamer for over ten years. I played and enjoyed games very much before Steam, thank you. And I resent you judging me based on my feeling toward Steam when you dont even know me.

Anyway, I agree that Steam has done some things to promote PC gaming, but I have had problems in the past with Steam, as have others, and I resent being told that I am not a PC gamer, whatever that means, or that I am stupid and must have done something wrong to have a problem because Steam is perfect and could not possibly do anything wrong or have a software glitch with my particlar account. And while Steam does have excellent sales, their prices on new games stay at full price for an inordinately long time.
Lets face it, Steam is in the business to make money just like every other business. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but they are not perfect. And I cant read the minds of the Steam executives, but I seriouly doubt they would continue to promote PC gaming if they were not making a boatload of money.

 

[you2]

I purchased the game via d2d; I also had to register the key with ea; actually I can't remember if i had to register the key; or only had to register the key if i wanted the extras.
-
Anyways I'm not a fan of EA; though to be honest I think GFWL is worse. Steam works for me; though others have complained about steam. To be honest Take 2 gives me the best support; that pr person with bioshock games - Elizabeth - had a key problem with borderlands (similar to above where steam ran out of keys) and she was more than happy to help.

 

[Maximilian]

I have been a PC gamer for over ten years. I played and enjoyed games very much before Steam, thank you. And I resent you judging me based on my feeling toward Steam when you dont even know me.

Resent it all you want all im hearing from your posts are "i hate steam" :\

Anyway, I agree that Steam has done some things to promote PC gaming, but I have had problems in the past with Steam, as have others, and I resent being told that I am not a PC gamer, whatever that means, or that I am stupid and must have done something wrong to have a problem because Steam is perfect and could not possibly do anything wrong or have a software glitch with my particlar account. And while Steam does have excellent sales, their prices on new games stay at full price for an inordinately long time.
Lets face it, Steam is in the business to make money just like every other business. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but they are not perfect. And I cant read the minds of the Steam executives, but I seriouly doubt they would continue to promote PC gaming if they were not making a boatload of money.

Uh huh... well i had problems as around 2004 i couldn't play half life 2 in my uni dorms because of steam. That sucked but life goes on, since then steam has gone from strength to strength. Steam as it stands now is one of the best things to happen to PC gaming. Yeah im parroting that line because its true

They make money? So what? They make money doing something good for PC gaming, if you were a PC gamer for as long as you claim to have been you would see that and not resent steam for "making money". Besides what makes you think steam sets the prices? Link me to something that says its steam that sets the prices and not the developers. Besides if a game uses steamworks DRM only it can be bought from anywhere, amazon, gameplay,play etc and registered on steam hassle free. If it uses steamworks and tacks on 3rd party stuff well... YMMV.

Oh and FYI valve run steam and they also made the epic half life series and left 4 dead and team fortress 2 and portal, so its not just some greedy corporation like you make them out to be they actually make damn good games as well.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Resent it all you want all im hearing from your posts are "i hate steam" :\



Uh huh... well i had problems as around 2004 i couldn't play half life 2 in my uni dorms because of steam. That sucked but life goes on, since then steam has gone from strength to strength. Steam as it stands now is one of the best things to happen to PC gaming. Yeah im parroting that line because its true

They make money? So what? They make money doing something good for PC gaming, if you were a PC gamer for as long as you claim to have been you would see that and not resent steam for "making money". Besides what makes you think steam sets the prices? Link me to something that says its steam that sets the prices and not the developers. Besides if a game uses steamworks DRM only it can be bought from anywhere, amazon, gameplay,play etc and registered on steam hassle free. If it uses steamworks and tacks on 3rd party stuff well... YMMV.

Oh and FYI valve run steam and they also made the epic half life series and left 4 dead and team fortress 2 and portal, so its not just some greedy corporation like you make them out to be they actually make damn good games as well.

I dont resent steam because they make money. And I dont hate Steam. I just dont like black and white thinking that says steam can do no wrong, ever, which seems to be your viewpoint. I also dont see how whether or not Valve makes good games is really relevant to the Steam service. They are 2 separate issues.

And I do resent when I cant play games for days because my log in info is somehow screwed up, then I dont receive any response from Steam for several days, and when I do recieve a response it is clearly a canned response that has no direct relation to my e-mail for help. And BTW, I had my account name and password written down, so dont say it is my fault because I used the wrong log in info.